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Southwest Gas Holdings Inc. SWX recorded fourth-quarter 2024 operating earnings of $1.39 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.15 by 20.9%. The bottom line also increased 15.8% from the year-ago quarter’s $1.20.

Find the latest earnings estimates and surprises on Zacks Earnings Calendar.

SWX reported earnings of $3.16 for 2024 compared with $3.64 per share in 2023, which reflects a year-over-year decrease of 13.2%.

SWX’s Total Revenues

Operating revenues totaled $1.270 billion, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.373 billion by 7.5%. The top line also decreased 7.1% from $1.368 billion reported in the prior-year quarter.

SWX reported total revenues of $5.11 billion for 2024 compared with $5.43 billion in 2023, which reflects a year-over-year decrease of 5.9%.

Southwest Gas Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Southwest Gas Corporation price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Southwest Gas Corporation Quote

Highlights of SWX’s Earnings Release

Utility infrastructure service expenses totaled $650 million, up 6.2% from the year-ago quarter’s level of $612.3 million.

The total operating income amounted to $33.7 million compared with $18.5 million in the year-ago quarter.

Total system throughput in 2024 was 219.43 million dekatherms, down 3.2% from 226.59 million dekatherms reported in 2023.

Southwest Gas’ Financial Highlights

Cash and cash equivalents, as of Dec. 31, 2024, were $363.8 million compared with $106.5 million as of Dec. 31, 2023.

The long-term debt, less current maturities, amounted to $4.35 billion as of Dec. 31, 2024 compared with $4.61 billion as of Dec. 31, 2023.

Southwest Gas’ net cash provided by operating activities for the year ended Dec. 31, 2024 was $1.36 billion compared with $0.51 billion in the year-ago period.

SWX’s 2025 Guidance

Southwest Gas anticipates the Natural Gas Distribution segment’s net income in 2025 to be in the range of $265-$275 million. The capital expenditure is expected to be $880 million for supporting customer growth, system improvements and pipe replacement programs.

Capital expenditures are expected to be $4.3 billion for the 2025-2029 period. The utility rate base is projected to witness a CAGR of 6-8%.

SWX’s Zacks Rank

Southwest Gas currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Recent Releases

ONE Gas, Inc. OGS reported fourth-quarter 2024 operating earnings per share (EPS) of $1.34, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.33 by 0.8%. The figure also came in 5.5% higher than the year-ago quarter’s earnings of $1.27.

ONE Gas recorded revenues of $630.7 million, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $661 million by 4.5%. However, the top line increased 4.1% from $605.9 million in the prior-year quarter.

Atmos Energy ATO posted first-quarter fiscal 2025 earnings of $2.23 per share, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.20 by 1.4%. The bottom line also improved 7.2% from the year-ago quarter’s $2.08.

Total revenues of $1.18 billion lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.40 billion by 16.2%. However, the top line increased 1.7% from the year-ago quarter’s reported number of $1.16 billion.

Spire Inc. SR reported first-quarter fiscal 2025 earnings of $1.34 per share, which lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.42 by 5.6%. The company’s bottom line also declined 8.8% from $1.47 reported in the year-ago quarter.

Total revenues for the reported quarter were $669.1 million, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $726 million by 7.8%. The top line also decreased 11.6% from $756.6 million in the year-ago quarter.

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research

Sempra Energy SRE is scheduled to release fourth-quarter 2024 results on Feb. 25, before market open.

Find the latest EPS estimates and surprises on Zacks Earnings Calendar.

This utility company delivered a negative earnings surprise of 16.04% in the last reported quarter. Its trailing four-quarter negative earnings surprise is 5.01%, on average.

Let’s discuss the factors that are likely to affect the upcoming quarterly results.

Factors to Consider Ahead of SRE’s Results

SRE’s service territories witnessed above-normal weather patterns for the majority of the fourth quarter. This is likely to have hurt electricity demand from its customers for heating purposes this winter, thereby adversely affecting the company’s top-line performance.

Nevertheless, soaring electricity demand from Texas and California backed by increasing infrastructure investments, favorable outcomes from prior general rate cases, notable customer growth and surging natural gas demand are likely to have boosted SRE’s top-line performance.

Solid revenue expectations and valuable returns from earlier invested capital are expected to have contributed favorably to SRE’s bottom line.

However, higher interest and operating expenses are likely to have impacted its bottom-line performance to some extent.

Sempra Energy Price and EPS Surprise

Sempra Energy price-eps-surprise | Sempra Energy Quote

SRE’s Q4 Expectation

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for SRE’s sales is pegged at $4.89 billion, which indicates year-over-year growth of 40%.

The consensus estimate for earnings is pegged at $1.63 per share, which indicates year-over-year growth of 44.3%.

What Our Model Predicts for SRE

Our proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for SRE this time around. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat, which is not the case here as seen below.

Earnings ESP: The company’s Earnings ESP is 0.00%. You can uncover the best stocks before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks Rank: The company currently carries a Zacks Rank of 3. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Recent Utility Releases

NextEra Energy, Inc. NEE reported fourth-quarter 2024 adjusted earnings of 53 cents per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 51 cents by 3.9%. The company reported operating revenues of $5.38 billion, which lagged the consensus estimate of $6.49 billion by 17%.

WEC Energy Group WEC reported fourth-quarter 2024 earnings of $1.43 per share, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.44 by 0.7%. The company reported operating revenues of $2.28 billion, which missed the consensus estimate of $2.6 billion by 12.1%.

ONE Gas, Inc. OGS reported fourth-quarter 2024 operating earnings per share of $1.34, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.33 per share by 0.8%. The company recorded revenues of $630.7 million, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $661 million by 4.5%.

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research